Archive for work teams

Build Your Leadership Cache: The Wall Street Journal Picks the Best Books of 2011

With a steady stream of terrific leadership advice hitting bookstores and inboxes, how do you prioritize your reading? Do you wonder which leadership books will help you make the most difference in your organization? Check out the latest recommendations from The Wall Street Journal here. One recommendation is “The Progress Principal” by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, published by Harvard Business Review Press. Read it and you’ll learn what enhances a worker’s “inner work life”—the stuff that inspires and motivates them to be more productive and creative, among other positive outcomes.

Let me give you a hint: let your workers make meaningful progress at work.

Sounds simple enough, but in the 15 years that Amabile and Kramer collected confidential data from 238 professionals at seven companies (totaling nearly 12,000 days), they gained a laser focus on what frustrates employees, de-motivates them, makes them hate their boss and prompts them to sabotage the success of their employer—and conversely, what motivates them toward better performance, loyalty and innovation.

So how do you facilitate your employees’ feeling of making meaningful progress at work?

Step 1: Allow pride of accomplishment. People want to make a valuable contribution, and feel great when they make progress toward doing so. Knowing this progress principle is the first step to knowing how to boost an employee’s work life. This must be harder than it sounds, as in the work diaries, on one-third of those 12,000 days, the person writing the diary was either unhappy at work, de-motivated by the work, or both. One of the most egregious examples was a head of product development, who routinely moved people on and off projects like chess pieces in a game for which only he had the rules.

Step 2: Set smaller goals to create a sense of movement toward achieving larger goals. This naturally follows the first step. By setting smaller, achievable goals and allowing workers the autonomy to meet them, workers feel a sense of accomplishment and progress. This goes a long way toward increasing motivation and performance.

Step 3: Give recognition for good work. One of the most common mistakes managers make is to assume their employees are doing just fine—or that “bad morale” was a result of poor work ethics or undesirable personality traits. A manager’s actions and words set the tone for the entire organization, and without their recognizing good work, there is little sense of accomplishment and motivation to perform.

Step 4: Encourage and reward transparency. When you hear about problems within the ranks, listen and take action. Don’t deny. Here’s a great example from Amabile and Kramer’s research. In an open Q&A with one company’s chief operating officer, an employee asked about the morale problem and got this answer: “There is no morale problem in this company. And, for anybody who thinks there is, we have a nice big bus waiting outside to take you wherever you want to look for work.” How’s that for a motivator? Makes me want to work for that manager—not!

While Amabile and Kramer’s research doesn’t provide any great new insights, it does drive home concepts that leadership gurus have been preaching for years. Provide meaningful work. Let your employees make progress toward achievable goals. And set the tone for success by recognizing and rewarding good work.

If your business could benefit by leveraging management practices that enhance employee work life, contact Capiche. We specialize in working with businesses and organizations to build high performing teams and to create a culture of productivity and innovation. Or tell us what is working for you! We hope to hear from you soon.

Photo: Image by Dan

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Receives Accreditation from iOpener Institute for People and Performance and Can Now Offer a Free Team Report

 

Capiche is happy to announce that Chris Cook has received full accreditation from the iOpener Institute for People and Performance, based in Oxford, England. Chris is the only iOpener-accredited coach in the Pacific Northwest, and she has access to iOpener tools and solutions that no other coach in the region enjoys.

iOpener accreditation allows Chris to use the People and Performance Questionnaire (iPPQ) to perform an in-depth analysis of how employees feel about their work and how well they are performing in their work environment. The iPPQ assesses both individuals and teams, providing leaders with clearer insights into what works in their organization, and what could be better. The iPPQ provides practical next steps and encourages managers and leaders to share responsibility with their teams.

If you are interested in a complimentary team report, call Chris.

These reports are highly pragmatic and allow Chris to focus on how to make positive changes in your organization while protecting what works well. Best of all, the iPPQ is grounded in years of research, which can be found in academic journals and at presentations worldwide.

Call Chris at 541.601.0114 or email chris@capiche.us to learn how you may receive your complimentary team report.

Empower Your Team to Boost Performance

Do you stay out of your employees’ way and allow them to problem solve?  If not, consider that you are likely the sort of boss who is a top-down, micromanager. The command-and-control model works well in the military but results in tremendous dysfunction for work teams. Hierarchical control often results in a vicious cycle in which the work team is rendered ineffective and unvalued.

If you are a leader, remember that you have nothing to prove. Let your team be the problem solvers, and show them that you have ideas and advice when needed. Stay out of the way.

 The best leader is the one who listens more than talks. Watch your body language and maintain eye contact with the person speaking. Try to minimize distractions.

Welcome divergent viewpoints and disagreement. Problem-solve as a team, asking for input. Assure your team that all perspectives and solutions are valued, and be sure not to shoot down any thoughts that are shared. Remember that you are not the only one with the answers.

Successful leaders trust and rely on followers to maximize team effectiveness. Your behavior as the leader can either strengthen or destroy the work team. Engage and empower your team, and your organization will enjoy enhanced company performance while increasing team morale and commitment.

Successful Teams: Take It from the Heat

Ball Four BasketballWork teams pose many challenges and many rewards. What is the secret to a successful team? Salter (2011) interviewed three members of the NBA’s Miami Heat: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. The purpose of the interviews was to determine the attributes of a dream team, no matter the industry.  Among the findings:

1. Team members must make sacrifices, which may mean seeing “less of the basketball” (Salter, 2011, p. 82).  There is no place for solo stars on a dream team.

2. “Adversity is an asset” (Salter, 2011, p. 84). The rough times bring a team together. No team member wants a team to fail.

3. Try to resist second-guessing your team members. Be patient with each other and “beware the blame game” (Salter, 2011, p. 84).

Pryce-Jones (2010) concurs, suggesting that it is easy to for a team to focus on what is wrong.  The dream team, though, is the one that focuses on what is right.

References

Pryce-Jones, J. (2010). Happiness at work: Maximizing your psychological capital for success. West Sussex, England: Wiley-Blackwell.

Salter, C. (2011, May). The world’s greatest chemistry experiment. Fast Company, 155, 78-84.